From The Storyteller
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Hello All: This past holiday season brought me to appreciate family in a much deeper way. Enjoy, Doug
Family “Never climb a tree looking for fish”, Elaine to me, quoting an ancient Chinese proverb in response to my suggestion that fishing right then was useless. She simply smiled and dropped two baloney-baited fish hooks over the side of Safari (our 36’ sailboat) anchored in Aransas Bay. After dinner she pulled up the line, and there were TWO fish hooked. Boy, did I get that wrong. Remembering this naturally caused me to think about my first attempt at driving. When my older sister’s boyfriend offered me (age 13) the opportunity to drive his car on Chicago city streets, I thought “why not”. In two blocks and three “almost” wrecks later my first driving lesson was over, and he was back behind the wheel. My memory of this first driving opportunity ranks right up there with times like when I knocked over the Christmas tree, the day I realized I couldn't hit a curve ball (again age 13) and recalling my high school academic success (top 60% of my class). I share these memories because they clearly display my God given ability to grossly overestimate some things and grossly underestimate others. While I’m confident I’m not the only person with this gift, I only seem to remember seeing this gift displayed in others, if they are “family”. When my “family” gets together there is no shortage of life stories being shared, and most of the time they bring a smile or a laugh. This of course brought me to acknowledge there is no hiding from the people you have lived with. They know you are human, and when you try to throw attitude at them, they have little difficulty reminding you of that humanity. Which naturally caused me to realize this “self” correcting process is why God gave us brothers, sisters, and children. Moral: They never forget. |